BIS QCO for Electrical Accessories - 7 Products, IS Standards & Mandatory Dates (2026)

Every switch you flip, every plug you push in, every bulb you change - it all happens at an electrical accessory. The Government of India decided that this everyday interface between people and electricity could no longer run on unverified quality, and issued the Electrical Accessories (Quality Control) Order, 2023, making the ISI Mark legally compulsory for the notified accessories.

The order was notified on 1 January 2024 and has since been amended in January 2026 - one product was removed - leaving 7 notified products today: the boxes and enclosures behind every switchboard, cable trunking and ducting, bayonet lamp holders, switch-socket-outlets, live working insulating gloves, insulating mats, and poly-laminated aluminium cable wrap.

This page is the QCO itself, explained: the order's legal identity, the ministry behind it, every Indian Standard with its full official title, the exact dates from which certification became mandatory, the 2026 amendment, the exemptions and the penalties - verified against both Gazette notifications, which are embedded below.

A Quality Control Order (QCO) is a legal directive that makes BIS certification mandatory - not voluntary - for the products it notifies. Once in force, those products cannot be manufactured for sale, stocked, sold or imported in India without conforming to the relevant Indian Standard and carrying the BIS Standard Mark (the ISI Mark) under a valid licence.

The legal identity of this order, precisely:

1. ) Name: Electrical Accessories (Quality Control) Order, 2023

2. ) Notification: S.O. 43(E), dated 1 January 2024, published in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) on 3 January 2024

3. ) Issuing ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry - Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)

4. ) Legal power: Section 16 of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016

5. ) Certification route: Standard Mark under a BIS licence per Scheme-I of Schedule-II of the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018

6. ) Certifying & enforcing authority: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

7. ) Amendment: Electrical Accessories (Quality Control) Amendment Order, 2026 - S.O. 187(E), 13 January 2026

Note the naming quirk worth knowing: the order is called the 2023 order but was notified on 1 January 2024 - a frequent source of confusion in the market. The Gazette date that all implementation timelines count from is 3 January 2024.

The order structured its products into two tables with different runways, all counted from the Gazette publication of 3 January 2024:

Read it plainly: since 3 July 2025, every product in this order - for every category of manufacturer, large, small or micro, Indian or foreign - requires a valid BIS licence and the ISI Mark. No transition window remains, no grace period, no turnover-based escape.

The current product list (after the 2026 amendment) is 7 products - six in Table-1 and one in Table-2 - each with its official Indian Standard title exactly as the Gazette states:

Two Gazette details worth stating precisely:

1. ) The tables matter. Table-2's single product was given its own, longer implementation period (18 months versus Table-1's 6 months) - which is why the cable wrap's mandatory date is 3 July 2025, not 3 July 2024.

2. ) Latest versions apply. Per the order's note, the latest version of each Indian Standard, including amendments notified by BIS from time to time, applies - compliance must track the current version of the standard.

On 13 January 2026, the government notified the Electrical Accessories (Quality Control) Amendment Order, 2026 - S.O. 187(E). It did exactly one thing: it omitted the last entry of Table-1 - Indian Standard IS 7809 (Part 3/Sec 1):1986, "Specification for Pressure sensitive adhesive insulating tapes for electrical purposes - Part 3 requirements or individual materials - Sec 1 plasticized polyvinylchloride tapes with non-thermosetting adhesive."

In plain language: PVC insulating tapes are no longer covered by this QCO and no longer require mandatory BIS certification under it. The original order listed eight products; since 13 January 2026 it lists seven.

Why this section matters: much of the internet still shows the old eight-product list with insulating tapes included. If a consultant or supplier quotes you a mandatory-certification requirement for insulating tape under this order, they are quoting a provision that was deleted in January 2026. Both Gazette notifications are embedded on this page - verify against the primary source.

The order carves out essentially one exemption:

1. ) Export-only manufacturing - Goods manufactured domestically purely for export are exempt. If it never enters the Indian market, the order does not apply.

And the two "exemptions" people wrongly assume from other QCOs:

"Imported as a component" - NOT exempt here. There is no proviso exempting goods imported as part of a finished good or sub-assembly.

"Small Udyam units" - NOT exempt here. There is no investment/turnover carve-out. Micro and Small Enterprises were given later dates, not exemptions - 3 January 2025 and 3 October 2024 respectively - and both have passed.

Under the order, the Bureau of Indian Standards is the certifying and enforcing authority, and any person who contravenes the order's provisions is punishable under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016. Under the Act, manufacturing, selling, storing or importing a notified product without the ISI Mark can attract imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of at least ₹2 lakh for the first offence; for repeat offences the minimum fine rises to ₹5 lakh and can extend up to ten times the value of the goods - alongside seizure of non-compliant stock and customs detention of imports.

For the full compliance picture beyond the order itself - who applies, documents, process, timelines, licence validity and renewal - see our complete guide: BIS Certification for Electrical Accessories (main page), and the dedicated guide for each of the 7 products.

This article is based on the Electrical Accessories (Quality Control) Order, 2023 (Gazette notification S.O. 43(E), dated 1 January 2024, published 3 January 2024) and the Electrical Accessories (Quality Control) Amendment Order, 2026 (S.O. 187(E), dated 13 January 2026), as notified by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Implementation dates and product entries are stated as per the official Gazette notifications. Standards are subject to the latest versions and amendments notified by BIS from time to time. Readers are advised to refer to the official Gazette notifications and BIS guidelines for exact requirements, as these may be amended from time to time.